me, and I deserve the
punishment! But, look you,--time went by, and my constitution was broken;
debts came upon me; I could not pay; men mistrusted my word; my name in
the country fell: With my health, my genius deserted me; I was no longer
useful to my party; I lost my seat in parliament; and when I was on a
sick-bed--you remember it, Constancy--the bailiffs came, and tore me away
for a paltry debt--the value of one of those suppers the Prince used to
beg me to give him. From that time my familiars forsook me!--not a visit,
not a kind act, not a service for him whose day of work was over! 'Poor
Vernon's character was gone! Shockingly involved--could not perform his
promises to his creditors--always so extravagant--quite unprincipled--must
give him up!'

"In those sentences lies the secret of their conduct. They did not
remember that for them, by them, the character was gone, the promises
broken, the ruin incurred! They thought not how I had served them; how my
best years had been de